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Green Tips to help you along your way.

1. Upgrade your furnace! If your heating system is more than 15 years old, it’s costing you too much in energy and you run the risk of an inconvenient breakdown. Contact us to replace it.
2. Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer.
3. Clean your air registers and make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.
4. Install timers on kitchen, bath, and other exhaust fans.
5. Reduce your use of garbage bags by using reusable blue boxes and a composter.
6. During the winter, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow the sun to warm your home.
7. Repair leaky faucets promptly; a leaky faucet wastes gallons of water very quickly.
8. Insulate the first six feet of the hot and cold water pipes connected to the water heater.
9. Set up a hanging clothes drying system in the basement or outdoors, even for just some items such as sheets and towels.
10. If you haven’t installed a programmable thermostat yet, what are you waiting for? It will save you energy and money.
11. Install timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.
12. As much as you can, plan your tasks to minimize your need for lighting after dark.
13. Use outdoor lights with a photo cell unit or a motion sensor so they will turn on only at night or when someone is present.
14. Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, switches, and electrical outlets that can leak air into or out of your home.
15. Check for open fireplace dampers.
16. Install exterior or interior storm windows; storm windows can reduce heat loss through the windows by 25% to 50%.
17. Don’t discard old plastic grocery bags. Tuck a few away in the garage or near the front door to use as make-shift booties during wet or muddy weather, and during the winter, cover your car’s side mirrors and windshield wipers if you park outside in winter and you won’t have to scrape the ice off. Animal shelters or thrift stores will appreciate extra bags.
18. Tips to keep your garden “green”:
19. Compost. Organic kitchen and yard waste accounts for a significant amount of household garbage, and creates methane gas in the landfill. By using compost in the garden you are reducing your carbon footprint while creating a healthy, eco-friendly garden that makes your soil richer.
20. Mulch liberally. Not only will mulch in your garden keep weeds at bay, it helps the soil retain water so you’re not watering as frequently.
21. Water conservatively. Put high-water-need plants together and low-water-need plants together. Also, don’t over-water your lawn – brown grass is still healthy – and avoid using sprinklers.
22. Return containers. Clean and return your plastic plant containers to the store after transplanting rather than throwing them away.
23. Use a manual mower. Get some exercise and be environmentally friendly at the same time by using a manual or push mower instead of a gas or electric model.